Belize- Day Two

Today has been a full day, and whew we are tired! We began our morning by eating breakfast on the "dock", which is pretty much in the middle of the ocean. Not a shabby start to our day. We then had a short morning devotion with worship and then headed for the buses. We were then taken to a church that had been planted by International Servants and shown some living conditions. If anyone in the U.S. lived in houses (grass huts and dirt floors) like the people of Belize, child services and PETA would be knocking on the door. It's amazing how little they can live off of. The pastor we visited had 12 children and many grandchildren living in one grass hut. How? I have no idea. The children ran around barefoot without a care in the world. It's amazing how they can have so little and be so happy. Maybe there's something to that? They loved having their pictures taken and loved all the attention they could get.

We then traveled a few more miles to another grass hut homestead and ate lunch- chicken and rat. They call the rat gibnut, but my ears only heard rat. It's a delicacy here and the rat isn't little, it's more like the size of a oppossum. And of course I ate some....ok more like a teeny tiny bite, but I still can say I did it and I can also say that it's the best rat I've ever eaten. (BTW..I just looked up what a gibnut is, and now I'm feeling a little woozy.) It was actually quite tasty. The family also made homemade tortilla on their stone oven and fried chicken. It was finger lickin' good.

Finally after eating we were able to set up clinic. Mom, Nina, and I, plus one other- Melanie, have been put in charge for education. We were a bit overwhelmed and lost as to what to teach the people of Belize. Most of the patients we will be seeing speak only Spanish or an Indian language. None of which I know. And, to top it all off, we are the first group to have an education team. The day was pretty discouraging. Many patients didn't even come see us. I felt like I was not helping the people of Belize at all. I came here to help sew on fingers and save lives and lead people to Christ. How can I do that when I'm teaching them how to wash their hands? Those who have been on the trip before assured us that tomorrow will be better. God qualifies the unqualified. We must look at the big picture and how we can contribute to that. Hopefully tomorrow will be better. I know it will be. As long as I have God to guide me and rely on his plan, everything will fall into place.